Pumpkin Challenge 2014

Eight Pumpkins in Eight Weeks

Every year I am filled to the brim with intentions to do cool pumpkin carvings. And every year I end up with a single, moldering, uncarved pumpkin sitting in my backyard, sinking in on itself as its blank orange face mocks my lack of follow-through.

Well, THIS YEAR is going to be different.  With the help of our newest foster-family member, we are going to be lighting up the orange and black to celebrate the season.

A pumpkin a week from now until Halloween, each one more complicated than the last until we culminate an in unholy gorey gourd of terror the likes of which has never been seen!  (Or, until we screw one up, whichever comes first.)

Stay tuned, people. It's gonna get pulpy in here....

With bated breath...

Coming soon:

Pumpkin Challenge 2014

Acer R7-572

I'm in love with this new computer. I haven't had a convertible tablet since my old Toshiba Portege died five or six years back. 

I picked up an Acer R7-572 after being drawn in by its vibrant 15.1" -N-trig-pressure-sensitive-general-bad-ass screen.  My old Toshiba had a Wacom digitizer, but I've found that the combination of capacitive touch and N-trig makes for a much more intuitive interaction. For example, in Manga Studio I can draw with the pen, then slide, rotate, and resize the canvas with my left hand. This mimics the real world ability to attack a canvas/paper from multiple angles, a technique that was technically available before, but in a much slower, more cumbersome form. 

I also was able to pick up the Acer at a steep discount, around $500 refurbished. Looks like it didn't sell enough units.... perhaps because it wasn't marketed right, perhaps because it couldn't overcome the Acer stigma. I've only had it a couple weeks, but it seems to be a well-built, solidly engineered device.

The largest issue is the placement of the touchpad, which has been moved above the keyboard. I use a usb mouse in the office, so it doesn't bother me there. When using the R7 to draw, the trackpad placement is an advantage, as I can still access keyboard hotkeys if I choose. (I can slide my hand between the back of the collapsed screen and the keyboard. It kind of feels like playing the accordion, and I sometimes pretend I'm Weird Al Yankovic. I mean, I did that before, but even more now.)

The Acer Aspire R7-572 can be researched in depth at http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/

Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes...

Week's vacation in a cabin, found this guy nestled by the front door on the way out.

The Bulldog Ant is Not a Team Player

Short Story in Print!

I'm very happy to say that my short story, "The Bulldog Ant is Not a Team Player" is included in the latest Plan B Magazine anthology.

I'm sharing space with authors who have written some terrific stories, and had a wonderful experience with Darusha Wehm, who edits both the anthologies and the regular Plan B Magazine website. 

The anthology is available at Amazon here and my story will be up in rotation at the Plan B website, if you'd like to check it out for free.

This is my first time being published, and I couldn't have hoped for a an easier, more writer-friendly experience. Thanks to Darusha and everyone behind the Plan B site for helping out this newbie.

Plan B - Volume IV: a mystery and crime anthology (Plan B Anthologies)

By Frank Byrns, Laird Long, Daniel Marshall Wood, Adam Howe, J. M. Vogel, Michael McGlade, MJ Gardner, Dan Stout, Lavie Tidhar

Buy on Amazon

Ahh, the holidays....

Time to set up the Halloween tree!

Now THAT'S a fruitcake...

I'm not a big fan of cake, but I love fruits: watermelon, strawberries, blackberries, etc. 

So for a recent special event, my particularly clever girlfriend presented me with this work of ingenuity... 

Pics from Hamlet's Fool

A while back I'd promised some photos of Peter Cutts's show Hamlet's Fool. 

Delivered at long last!

Making New Friends at the Midwest Haunters' Convention

Rows and rows of zombies, animatronics, giant spiders, and nice people. 

A good time was had by all. 

Check out their website for details on next years' event. 

Write1Sub1 update

Accomplished a lot this week: wrote two stories and entered my first flash competition over at Liberty Hall, which was really fun. I also polished up a couple of older stories and I'm much happier about their structure now. 

Considering all that, I was somewhat shocked to find that I hadn't submitted anything this week. I had a number of things ready to at resubmit-- I guess I just never actually put them out the door. But in all honesty I feel so good about everything else I got done that I'm okay with that. 

Plus, it means that my report for next week should be all the more impressive...